| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| NATO troop surge - in Kosovo | |
| 2008-01-27 | |
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Wednesday it has started deploying extra troops in Kosovo as the province's ethnic Albanian leaders move to declare independence from Serbia.
Leaders of Kosovo's 90% Albanian population are expected to unilaterally declare independence in the coming weeks after negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the province's future status failed. Such a move is likely to be backed by the U.S. and a number of European countries, but faces strong opposition from Serbia and its ally Russia. Some observers believe the additional troops were sent in because of fears of violence. Bonneau said the mission was made up of regulars who would "operate and train in Kosovo as part of routine operations" but it also served to "demonstrate NATO's ability to reinforce in-theater NATO forces at very short notice." Separately, Kosovo's police force confirmed Wednesday it has prepared a special plan for the day when Kosovo is expected to declare independence. "The code name of the operation plan is 'Status'," police spokesman Veton Elshani told reporters. "The main goal of the plan is protection of life and property of the citizens as well as of public order and peace," he said, refusing to disclose further details. Kosovo newspapers said the plan envisages an increased police presence at Serb-populated enclaves. "This plan has been prepared by the police and it is not military. KFOR surely has its own plans," they quoted senior police official Reshat Maliqi as saying. | |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #5 Well Europe will just pay more for Russian oil and natural gas.The US has already one of its largest military bases in the world in Kosovo,.....Camp Bondsteel http://kosova.org/kfor/bondsteel/index.asp |
| Posted by: Kojo Slusolet3501 2008-01-27 14:53 |
| #4 So thar I wuz... |
| Posted by: Gurval Princip (ret) 2008-01-27 11:07 |
| #3 Yes Pro, but that is mere lip service without the accompanying Euro savoir-faire. Cause everyone knows that looking good is half of it. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-01-27 10:25 |
| #2 "The code name of the operation plan is 'Status'," How fitting. The Euros are definitely into maintaining status. Meanwhile in the 'chaos' of Iraq, we've had how many elections, seated a national government, provided a route for confrontational ethnic groups to cooperate, jump started a growing economy,... |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-01-27 09:48 |
| #1 A victory for Western backed "ethnic" cleansing of Christians to sit alongside the Western-backed Judenfrei territories of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran... We have been fighting a reverse-Crusade for a hundred years. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-01-27 09:24 |